Anna Karenina Readalong, 2023

[StColumbofNavron]

Following the success of W&P in 2022, we’ve decided to stick with Tolstoy for 2023 and read Anna Karenina, one chapter per day.

For newbies: we simply read one chapter a day and discussion is allowed with a broader chat at the end of each section. Tolstoy’s chapters are nice and short, flicking through average length is about 4 pages.

I have used the Penguin Classics (2001, 2003) trans. by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky for the breakdown below. More on editions below.

There are 249 chapters in this edition and the book is in 8 parts taking us to 14 September with a break of a day between each book. Hopefully, irrespective of the edition you pick the finishing of each ‘book’ will hopefully align.

Book 1, ch. 1-34 (1 Jan-3 Feb)
BREAK, 4 Feb
Book 2, ch. 1-35 (5 Feb-11 Mar)
BREAK, 12 March
Book 3, ch. 1-32 (13 Mar-13 Apr)
BREAK, 14 Apr
Book 4, ch. 1-23 (15 Apr-7 May)
BREAK, 8 May
Book 5, ch. 1-33 (9 May-10 Jun)
BREAK, 11 Jun
Book 6, ch. 1-32 (12 Jun-14 Jul)
BREAK, 15 Jul
Book 7, ch. 1-31 (16 Jul-15 Aug)
BREAK, 16 Aug
Book 8, ch. 1-29 (17 Aug-14 Sept)

Some info on different translations and editions in the links below. Maud, Aylmer and Pevear and Volonkhonsky all present once again.

Wikipedia here
Tolstoy Therapy
New York Times
Some thoughts on Pevear and Volonkhonsky contenting the Russian Lit market

For reasons best known to me (largely foolish) I decided look up and work it all out on my phone instead of laptop, so apologies for any inaccuracies, typos etc. I am certain I have forgotten something, got my numbering wrong somewhere, but hopefully broadly correct.

All that remains is to say welcome back to those who are remaining committed to Tolstoy, thank you to those who organised and helped the last read run smoothly and welcome, do come in to those joining.

p.s. I would love to see the covers of your books.

It was comical and the Countess came across as a likeable character until she told the young boy that his mother was dead. That was brutal!

Yes, that was terrible. Reading a bit further, I've decided she's definitely not a sympathetic character!

30/05/23

Anna Karenina Part 5, Chapter 23

•	Countess Lydia was married to her husband at a very young age and genuinely fell in love with him.
•	For reasons no one quite understands, though, her husband left her. Countess Lydia was crushed. They're now separated and never interact.
•	Ever since, Countess Lydia has always been in love with someone. She especially goes for anyone who's distinguished.
&bull;	Lately, though, she&#039;s been feeling as though she&#039;s never been in love with anyone the way she&#039;s in love with Karenin. She appreciates what she perceives to be his <span class="italic">high, lofty soul</span>.
&bull;	
&bull;	This love proves itself by the way that she has started dressing carefully in the morning. She blushes when he enters a room and when he compliments her.
&bull;	Countess Lydia discovers that Anna and Vronsky are in Petersburg and gets upset. She takes great pains to hide this fact from Karenin and to make sure that his path never crosses theirs.
&bull;	Countess Lydia is pleased when she learns that Anna and Vronsky will be leaving the next day, but this joy is cut short when she is handed a letter from Anna, begging Countess Lydia to engineer a meeting with Seryozha.
&bull;	The letter appeals to Countess Lydia&#039;s generosity and explains that Anna hasn&#039;t turned to Karenin with this request because she doesn&#039;t want to wound him further.
&bull;	Countess Lydia tells the messenger that there is no answer, then writes to Karenin that she must meet him. She says they can talk at the birthday reception to be held at the Palace.
&bull;	Countess Lydia likes writing letters to Karenin: she feels that letters add an air of <span class="italic">mystery</span> to their communication.

31/05/23

Anna Karenina Part 5, Chapter 24

•	The royal birthday reception at the palace is coming to a close.
•	A group of dignitaries begins gossiping about Karenin. He has just received the Order of Alexander Nevsky, which is a high honor bestowed by the Court.
•	They laugh at Karenin's ignorance: they can all see that, even though he holds an important post, he has effectively come to the end of his career. There are no promotions awaiting him in his future.
&bull;	Meanwhile, Karenin is talking some poor man&#039;s ear off about some finance project. He feels, quite to the contrary of the opinions of basically everyone he knows, that his role in the office is <span class="italic">even more important</span> than it once was, because he now sees so clearly what everyone else is doing wrong. He keeps writing new proposals that don&#039;t really go anywhere. After all, his work helps distract him from his marital situation.
&bull;	
&bull;	Karenin socializes a little with people that he knows are laughing at him, but he&#039;s gotten used to that. He looks around for Countess Lydia. The two of them discuss Seryozha&#039;s education for a bit, which is Karenin&#039;s other project besides his work.
&bull;	Countess Lydia tells him of Anna&#039;s presence in Petersburg. His face takes on a helpless, death-like expression.
&bull;	Apparently, Countess Lydia finds this attractive. She is more in love with him than ever.

I see what you mean, cassandre. Odious woman! Karenin is not able for her.

des , are you a chapter ahead again? I read chapter 23 today...

Yes Fuzzy, it's sad the way Anna's son gets caught up in the power play between adults. Countess Lydia claims to be acting in his interests but her true desire is to punish Anna. When parents split, it's so often the kids who suffer! Unless the parents invest a real effort of course in putting the child's needs first -- that's a different story. Plus ca change...

"On the other hand I feel a bit grumpy with Tolstoy's emphasis on the woman as carer/caregiver."
So true!

Possibly, I've been away this week so may have lost track. If no one else thinks otherwise I'll skip today and post chapter 25 tomorrow.

I'm so sad that I have the chapters in my calendar on my phone...

I should obviously do the same 😂

Popping back in again - so sorry for my absence but am still reading along. I think I'm somehow a few chapters ahead as I haven't been having any days off or the like and, without Desdemona's fabulous summaries, its very easy to go wrong!

Have to agree with so much of what's been said over the last few pages, but nothing more so than James' comment: We all knew that he was not a man to run away with when he kicked his horse.

I’m a day or 2 or 3 behind so have only skimmed the last few posts but need to ask, have we encountered Lydia much before? I confused her name with Betsy’s at first but that’s altogether the wrong track.

<waves to SanFranBear> Good to hear from you!

I don't think we've seen too much of Lydia so far or my memory is faulty. Betsy has featured more often in comparison.

Thanks Fuzzy!

02/06/23

Anna Karenina Part 5, Chapter 25

•	Countess Lydia, having told Karenin that Anna and Vronsky are in Petersburg, takes him into her sitting room and shows him Anna's letter requesting to see Seryozha.
•	Karenin is willing to let Anna see her son, but Countess Lydia persuades him that's a bad idea. She appeals to his vanity. She tells Karenin that he is lofty and that Anna is base. Her request is only cruelty to Karenin. He agrees that Anna should not see Seryozha.
&bull;	Countess Lydia deliberately pens a very cruel letter to Anna in French, a language that she uses frequently (see our <a class="break-all" href="https://www.shmoop.com/anna-karenina/countess-lydia-ivanovna.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Character Analysis</a>s* for thoughts on why). The letter offends Anna entirely.
&bull;	
&bull;	Karenin goes home feeling very uncomfortable. He can&#039;t concentrate on anything, and remembers his cold, formal conduct with Anna in the aftermath of her confession of her love of Vronsky.

03/06/23

Anna Karenina Part 5, Chapter 26

•	For the first time, we get a chapter entirely focused on Karenin and Anna's son, Seryozha. After coming back from a walk, Seryozha gossips with the hall porter for a bit. The hall porter is an old man named Kapitonych.
•	Seryozha is in a great mood. Tomorrow is his birthday. He's also proud that his father has received the Alexander Nevsky award.
•	Seryozha has a difficult time with his lessons, probably because he's distracted by other things. He's fascinated by his father's official honors, and starts day-dreaming about how awesome it would be if his father received the two awards above the Alexander Nevsky.
•	
•	He wonders at the grand adult conspiracy that makes them all repeat the same dull, useless information. His tutor is thinking of other things while he's repeating Seryozha's lessons, and Seryozha wonders sadly why the tutor doesn't seem to care about him.

Ah... I appear to be in the right place (or will be when I read my chapter later!)

Thanks so much, Desdemona - you help keep us all on track!!

😇

04/06/23

Anna Karenina Part 5, Chapter 27

•	After his tutor leaves, Seryozha sits and waits for his lesson with his father.
•	One of Seryozha's favorite occupations when he goes out into the city is to watch for his mother. He doesn't believe that his mother is dead, because his nanny let it slip that she's alive, and he doesn't believe that his mother is bad, because he loves her too much.
•	When his father arrives, Seryozha is excited to see him, and he checks his father's expression for signs of pride regarding the Nevsky award.
•	
•	Seryozha is a bad student—he can't remember anything. What he gathers from his Bible lesson is that good people don't have to die.
•	Seryozha is actually an extremely intelligent, eager boy, just not in the way that his instructors would like. So his instructors often punish him for failing in his lessons. That night, Seryozha tells his tutor that he said an extra secret prayer. The tutor can't guess what Seryozha's prayer was. It was that his mother might come visit him for his birthday.

I'm a couple of chapters behind (just finished ch25) but just popping in to say how sorry I feel for Karenin, despite his personality which is still rather unappealing. I feel sorry for Anna too. She has her lover but has lost her son .

Yes! I'm hoping that Seryozha will meet up with Anna soon. It's a terrible situation. His lessons sound very dull. It's no wonder he's tuning out and is distracted with all that's going on.

I felt a little sorry for Countess Lydia who was married off when so young to a man who deserted her pretty quickly. It’s said she fell in love with him although she can’t have known him. I imagine she needs someone to love her, hence the fixation on certain men. I am not sure Karenin will be a match for her ardour. But then she set a child as a hostage of this need and then my sympathy waned. But children being used as hostages in divorce is again something we all recognise - I am constantly surprised by how contemporary the themes remain.

I agree, I feel for Karenin, but I am not sure I’d like him if I met him!

And yes, it’s annoying that women are caregivers all the time. Even when they excel (Kitty coming into her own), it’s in her role as a caregiver. Otherwise she was portrayed as a bit vacuous and annoying.

Oh poor little Seryozha, so keen to glory in his diffident dad's medal and so motherless. I liked the shift in focus, must say.

05/06/23

Anna Karenina Part 5, Chapter 28

•	When they arrive in Petersburg, Vronsky and Anna live in separate suites of rooms.
•	Vronsky is fooling himself as to what Anna's reception will be in polite society.
•	Russian society can be harsh. If a woman does something that's not allowed—say, leaving her husband for another man—she will be shut out of society.
•	Because of Anna's behavior, her former friends ignore her, no one invites her to parties, and if people she used to know see her in public, they pretend she isn't there. Anna's friends risk being ostracized themselves if they try to reach out to her. Vronsky hopes that the people closest to Anna will ignore this social pressure, but he's wrong.
•	
•	After finding out that there was no official divorce, Princess Betsy's enthusiasm for hanging out with Anna is gone. She does visit Anna, but only for ten minutes, and only to make a point of her loyalty.
•	Vronsky hopes his sister-in-law, Varya, will not refuse to see Anna, but Varya gently says no. She makes it clear that her decision is merely a reflection of what society demands.
•	As a result, Vronsky and Anna spend their time in Petersburg as if it's a foreign city—except that Karenin's name seems to come up everywhere.
•	Throughout their stay, Anna has been in a strange mood. Vronsky is confused and feels that Anna is hiding something from him.